Surrender
by Ro-Lal
Summary: Erza had distanced herself, ever since Jellal was imprisoned. Gray refuses to let her suffer on her own. But in chasing her, he finds himself forced to come to terms with his feelings for the Fairy Queen.


"Erza, hold up! Would you stop running for two seconds, woman!?"

Now, Natsu had meant that figuratively. The great Erza Scarlet wasn't showing weakness. She wouldn't. Not unless she was alone. And he, Gray, and Lucy knew it. Hell, Happy knew it too.

"Listen, hot-head I'm not _running_ from anything." Erza stated before finally turning her upper body to face her team. Natsu looked angry. Surprise-surprise. Lucy had a look of concern on her face. She was obviously discomforted for various and obvious reasons. Gray's eyes were locked on Erza, his arms crossed over his bare chest, but he was silent, with a grim expression on his face.

"Erza. You're upset. You're worried and it's understandable. But fuck, why do you have to shut us out?" Gray finally added. Erza's gaze quickly shifted to look at the onyx haired Ice-make Mage. She took a breath.

"Listen. It's been a long couple of days, okay? I'll admit I was a bit upset. I'm fine now. Just exhausted. I appreciate your concern, but I'd appreciate it much more if you'd all just let me go home already. Without the... Unnecessary interrogation." She said with a sigh.

Lucy's gaze lowered, almost guiltily. "Let's go, boys." She said, and began to walk off. She turned and gave Erza one last look. "Erza... If you ever actually need someone... Anyone to talk to... We're right here. We're a team... And we're family too." The blonde helpfully said with a little smile. "Good night." She added, and kept walking.

Erza smiled back. "I know. Thank you. Good night, all." She said, and headed for the Girls' dorm.

Natsu huffed and walked off, still a bit bothered by the whole thing. "Gray, you coming?" The Dragon Slayer called out.

_She needs support and I've become the crutch._  
_She'll never know how much she means to me._  
_I'd play the game but I'm the referee._

Gray just shook his head and saluted before following Erza quietly. He was going to get through to her. They'd made a pact when they first became friends, after all. As he lurked behind her, he thought about the events that had occurred just a couple of days ago. Erza bumped into that complete asswipe, Jellal, who apparently lost his memory, made up with Erza and then of course, went to jail. After he was taken, Erza had isolated herself for an hour or so. He was sure she'd cried. '_At least she got it off her chest,_' he thought.

By the time Erza reached her room and began to unlock the door, Gray found himself creeping from around the corner. He almost laughed. Why was he even doing that? Erza surely already knew he had been tagging along.

"You should go home, Gray. It's late." He heard her say. Gray smirked, and showed himself. "I just wanted to talk." He said. Erza didn't look at him and just opened the door.

"There's nothing to talk abou-"

"Bullshit. Erza, I know you're upset. Jellal's in prison, and I know that you know what they'll do to him." Gray said, clenching his fists, keeping his gaze on the ground. Erza swallowed hard.

"What's your point?" She asked in a quiet and raspy voice. Gray rubbed the back of his head, and looked to the empty hallway. He heard Erza sigh and push the door open. He looked at her for a moment, as the sound had called his attention and she gestured for him to follow her inside. He shoved his hands into his pockets and walked in behind her. Taking a few steps into the apartment, Gray turned around to look at Erza. She made no eye contact. She brushed her hair back with her hand, seeming emotionally exhausted, if anything. The knight crossed her arms and leaned back against the door, shutting it semi-loudly in the process.

"Why do we need to talk about this?" She asked.

Gray shrugged lightly. "I just... I thought you might want to."

Erza raised her eyebrows. "Does it seem like I want to talk abou-"

Annoyed, Gray spoke over her. "For fuck's sake, Erza, it's not that I or Natsu or even Lucy think you're some... Damsel in distress. We know you're not some dependant little school girl, alright? But sometimes, I just think you let your reputation get to you. It's okay to love someone as something other than... A friend or family. You don't have to feel embarrassed or vulnerable. And you're worried about him. I get it. But you're still bottling it up. You do too much of that, and I don't like it. I won't let you. The same exact thing happened when he was killed at the Tower of Heaven. Yeah, you're Titania, but you're also a fucking human, Erza." He rambled, and ran a hand through his onyx hair.

_Surrender every word, every thought, every sound._  
_Surrender every touch, every smile, every frown._  
_Surrender all the pain we've endured until now._  
_Surrender all the hope that I lost you have found._  
_Surrender yourself to me._

Erza's eyes teared up, but she tried to quickly blink them away, and attempted to swallow the lump in her throat. Then she gazed down. "So what if I talk about it?" She asked in a shaky voice.

Gray looked up at her. Seeing her like this, it did something to him. He hated seeing her suffering. But when she did cry, it made him feel like he was able to protect her.

"It won't undo what's done. They took him. They'll torture him. If he really doesn't remember what he did... Why should he have to be put through it?" She asked. "It isn't fair. How can he not remember a damn thing? He hurt people... And now that he's able to pay for it, he has nothing to grieve?!" She roared.

_Even though I know what I'm lookin' for,_  
_She's got a brick wall behind her door._  
_I'd travel time and confess to her,_  
_But I'm afraid she'd shoot the messenger._

Gray sighed, then took a step closer. He gradually opened his arms, and carefully pulled her into his chest, fearing to make her feel humiliated. He almost hated Jellal. First he betrays Erza, then tries to murder her. After that, she has to deal with knowing that he died, with a side-dish of: he's been resurrected, but came back with total amnesia, remembering nothing but Erza's name. But he dare not forget to sprinkle on the bacon-bits of: he's gone to jail to probably be tortured for the next few years. '_His shitty accomplishments should go on his résumé_', he thought.

But Gray stayed quiet. He knew he didn't quite understand how she felt. He didn't love anyone as anything other than family. Or friends. Though sometimes, Erza made him feel like he loved her. But he couldn't allow himself to. Or rather, he didn't want to. No, he knew there was something there. But he would conceal it and smother it at all cost. He couldn't burden Erza with something like this. He couldn't hurt himself with something like this. Gray slid an arm behind Erza's legs before he scooped her up into his arms, for once giving her the role of the princess, and he himself taking the redhead's role as knight. Erza didn't question it. She barely reacted. Striding over to the couch, he glanced at her tear-stained face before setting her down on the couch gently. He took a seat next to her, and placed his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into him again. "It'll be fine. He's gonna be okay. You'll see." He reassured her, allowing her to rest on his shoulder. Erza, for once, let herself go and shut her eyes, resting against him.

"Erza," He spoke up in a barely audible voice after a few moments. "Your armour. Take it off." He said.

Erza's body tensed up. "Gray-"

_Surrender every word, every thought, every sound._  
_Surrender every touch, every smile, every frown._  
_Surrender all the pain we've endured until now._  
_Surrender all the hope that I lost you have found._  
_Surrender yourself to me._

"Just this once, Erza. Take a break. Open up to me, and let me be your shield... Okay...?" He requested as he took her delicate hand in his larger and colder one, giving it a light squeeze, lacing his fingers with hers. She hesitated, but requipped into her usual white blouse with the blue ribbon around the collar, and her usual skirt. And she allowed herself to keep her arm around him tightly.

Her body jerked lightly with little sobs for a few minutes more. Gray stayed with her like that for a couple of hours until she fell asleep, occasionally glancing at her, running his fingers through her hair gently to move it away from her face. Until his eyelids started to get heavier.

Gray leaned in and planted a soft kiss on her forehead before he shifted and slowly leaned back against the couch. He tried his best not to wake her up, moving her body just slightly in order to position her against his chest completely. Once he did so, he gave himself the liberty to close his eyes. Once he did, he smiled to himself triumphantly.

She had opened up to _him_.

Erza had allowed him the privilege of letting _him_ be _her_ armour, even if it was temporarily.

His queen had let _him_ be her castle.

His heart skipped a beat.

_His_ queen?

That thought was enough to confirm it. A knot seemed to form in his stomach. He loved her. He was in love with his best friend. But fear consumed him, and he refused to dwell on the thought of that any more. He couldn't keep denying that she had claimed that spot in his heart.

Then his chest felt heavy, at the thought that he would never make her feel the way she did him. He knew that same spot in her heart, was Jellal's. Not Gray's to claim.

_I think I found a flower in a field of weeds,_  
_I think I found a flower in a field of weeds._  
_Searching until my hands bleed,_  
_This flower don't belong to me._

'_Even so,_' He gritted his teeth. '_She will always be my queen._'

He realized, a little too late, that he didn't need to dwell on it for it to hurt. Titania ruled his heart, whether he liked it or not.

_I never had the nerve to ask,_  
_Has my moment come and passed?_

_I never had the nerve to ask._

**Hi, there! Long time no see. I have returned with more Grayza feels! It appears that I'll be making these one-shots connected. uvu So, hold on to your onions.**

**Or don't. I promise to give you something more depressing!**

**Ro-Lal, out! -Salutes.-**


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